Millions of £s and thousands of lives have been lost due to HM Govt licensing a dangerous product for use. Why dont they have to pay to remove all the ACMs in our buildings ?

The government did not licence asbestos; it was a wonder material identified and developed from the 19th century onwards (I know it has been used before then but it really took off in the industrial revolution) it was not regarded as hazardous (although a research paper published in 1897 suggested it might be). It became a cheap general building material and was often used where it’s special heat resistant properties were not required. It wasn’t until the 1970’s that people realised quite how dangerous it was but by then the horse had left the stable and it as too late to bolt the door. To remove all of the asbestos in the country would be a massive and expensive job. Identifying who was responsible for putting it into buildings etc would now after many years be impossible. Further more in many cases the process of removing the stuff would actually cause more risk that leaving it where it is. Should the taxpayer pay? Well then, should they be expected to clear up all of the other man made disasters from thalidomide to global warming? Whose fault it is; nobodies and everybody’s- is a perfect example of the road to hell being paved with good intentions- asbestos looked like the right material at the right time; it only took about 100 years to realise how wrong that was.

In very simple terms, because: it would make us (as a country) uncompetitive against other countries that don't follow suit (and they won't)! the cost would put the country 'out of business'! 'they' is actually 'us', and we can't afford it. Can we?

Also, while the UK has been trying to effectively manage the asbestos (by identifying where it may be located within an older building and, where it poses a significant risk to those living or working there, removing it safely), other countries such as China are still using it. So, while it's been banned here, items arriving fully assembled from say China "may" contain asbestos which could be released in later years if the item was to be broken up etc. Was at a asbestos awareness course earlier this year and guy giving the course said they'd been asked to conduct a survey of a block of flats put up in 2011. Now, in theory there shouldn't be any asbestos in the building so should have just been a paper exercise but on entering one of the flats, the guy noticed there was artex on the ceiling plus a "board" behind the cooker on the wall (attached with some screws). He asked the owner where these had come from as they weren't in any of the other flats and the owner said his mate had them lying in a garage. Samples duly taken and yep, turned out to be asbestos board and asbestos in the artex as well. Whole flat was contaminated with the stuff. Also went to the mate's garage and it was full of the stuff as well...in fact the whole building was made of the stuff (walls lagged with it, roof and a couple of bags of artex in the corner). So, even in properties which shouldn't contain asbestos material at all, there may well be some that has been introduced by the owner / occupier at a later date! It was used so frequently back in the 60s / 70s that it's literally everywhere...[he showed slides of a play park where the fence was made out of asbestos boards...they were broken with bits lying on the ground. Any child kicking a football against it would release fibres which could potentially be breathed in by the child retrieving the ball].

JJ - not biting! from Natural History”, Pliny the Elder, 1st Century AD “I have seen…napkins that were made of it thrown into a blazing fire…where the guests were at table, and after the stains were burnt out, come forth from the flames whiter and cleaner than they could possibly have been rendered by the aid of water.” Don’t buy quarry slaves as prone to “sickness of the lungs” and often “die young” Respirators made of transparent bladder skin to reduce amount of dust breathed in from Factories and Workshops Annual Report for 1898 “The evil effects of asbestos dust have also attracted my attention…and where [the particles] are allowed to rise and remain suspended in the air…the effects have been found to be injurious…” ... and we legislated as far back as 1931.